


escape route

by mixtapestar



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5 Things, 5 Times, 5+1 Things, Claustrophobia, Implied Past Trauma / Abuse, M/M, Phobia as Result of Past Abuse, Self-Treatment by Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-19 09:01:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixtapestar/pseuds/mixtapestar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Isaac worries about getting on the elevator, and one time it doesn't bother him at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	escape route

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reinventweather (theadmiral)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theadmiral/gifts).



> See the tags for warnings. This fic is dedicated to my wonderful beta reader, reinventweather, who is probably still flailing about the fact that I wrote angst for once.

ONE.

It all starts when Scott and Isaac go over to Allison's place to work on a group project. Scott is deep into his explanation of why parkour would be a great idea for them to try, and he steps onto the elevator without really paying attention to his surroundings.

Isaac has been right there with him this whole time, fairly into what Scott's saying, but Scott suddenly realizes he's fallen silent.

"Dude, are you okay?" he asks, hitting the button for Allison's floor. Isaac seems paler than usual, his jaw clenched.

"I'm just gonna--stairs," Isaac says in a rush of breath, slipping out the doors at the last second so that they jolt back with a surprisingly loud noise.

"What--?" Scott asks, but he doesn't react fast enough before the doors close again.

Scott feels a little off balance as he rides up to Allison's floor, having lost his train of thought by Isaac's sudden departure. Isaac is there waiting on him when the elevator doors open, looking sheepish.

"Dude," Scott says, "what was that about?"

"Sorry," Isaac says without making eye contact, "I just uh, I don't get along very well with elevators. I'm not so great with the confined space."

Scott is hit with a sinking feeling that leaves him bereft by the time Isaac finishes his explanation, arms crossed and eyes focused on the floor. He takes a step closer to Isaac and says, "I'm so sorry, man. You should've said something sooner. I wouldn't have minded taking the stairs."

Isaac shrugs and looks at him briefly before looking away. "You didn't know. And I thought… I mean, I wanted to handle it. It's a stupid thing to get hung up on."

"I don't think it's stupid," Scott says firmly. When Isaac turns back, looking him in the eye, he promises, "We'll take the stairs from now on."

A small smile appears on Isaac's face, and he uncrosses his arms. "Thanks," he says quietly before gesturing for Scott to lead the way to the apartment.

Isaac doesn't say anything until they reach the Argents' door. "Maybe you could help me," he says tentatively. "Y'know, with elevators. I'd like to get used to it, and I trust you."

"Yeah, man," Scott says with a smile, feeling somewhat flattered. "Of course."

He knocks on Allison's door, noting with satisfaction that a lot of the tension has drained out of Isaac.

******

TWO.

When they go back to work on the project the next day, Isaac is determined that he'll do better with the elevator.

"I've got a plan," he tells Scott. "Elevators have those ceiling panels in them, right? So if I need to, I'll pry one of those off and then I can get out."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Scott says, nodding. He hits the button and wonders if he's gonna need to calm Isaac down by the time they get upstairs.

When the door chimes and then opens, there's a family of four inside, presumably coming up from the parking garage. Isaac grips the back of Scott's jacket and whispers urgently in Scott's ear, "I can't get on with other people."

"You just said you had a back-up plan," Scott says, trying to be encouraging. "Come on, it's just a few floors."

But Isaac's grip stays firm on Scott's jacket, and when Scott catches his expression, his eyes are wide and scared. He quickly realizes his mistake and tells the family, "Sorry, forgot something. We'll catch the next one."

He turns them around and guides Isaac firmly toward the stairwell, letting the door close behind them before speaking. "Hey, look at me," he says, gripping Isaac's wrists to stop his hands shaking. "That was my fault, you're fine now, you're safe. Isaac. Everyone's safe."

The distant, frightened look begins to fade from Isaac's eyes. In a weak voice, he says, "I don't wanna hurt anyone."

"You haven't. You didn't even start to shift." He changes his grip to cradle Isaac's hands and hold them up. "See? You're in control."

Isaac swallows thickly. Scott's blood is rushing loudly in his ears, regret thrumming through him because Isaac had trusted him and he'd let him down immediately. "I shouldn't have pushed you," Scott says, letting go so Isaac can straighten up. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Isaac says breathily, and when Scott goes to say it's _not_ okay, he catches an entirely different look in Isaac's eyes. "You kinda manhandled the fear right outta me."

Scott blushes. "I didn't mean to--"

"No, it's really okay," Isaac says again, his eyes lighting up and smirk playing on his lips. "Feel free to continue using that method."

Scott huffs a laugh and steps away. "Come on, let's take the stairs today." He doesn't look at Isaac again until his cheeks stop burning.

******

THREE.

Two nights later, Scott wakes Isaac up in the middle of the night. "Come on, man, I've got an idea."

"Whu--?" Isaac says, but he sits up and rubs at his eyes groggily. He stretches against the back of the couch and Scott most definitely doesn't watch the way his muscles move. "What's going on?"

"You asked me to help you with elevators, right? Well get dressed, I've got a plan."

"I was thinking I'd rather be able to ride elevators during waking hours," Isaac complains, but he grabs his shirt off the floor and pulls it on.

"Are we going to see Allison?" Isaac says several minutes later when they pull up to the apartment building.

"No," Scott says. "But this is one of few buildings with an elevator that I know how to get into in the middle of the night without being buzzed in."

"A useful skill," Isaac says, smirking.

"It's come in handy," Scott shoots back as he works at the back entrance until the door slides open. "Okay, so here's what I discovered."

"Wait," Isaac interrupts. "Is this where you disappeared to last night?"

Scott shrugs and hits the elevator button to go up. "I was doing research."

"On the _elevator_ ," Isaac says, unconvinced. The door opens within seconds, and Scott moves into the doorway to keep it open.

"You asked me to help," Scott reminds him. Isaac's look is incredulous, but also a little fond. Scott clears his throat and continues, "Anyway, it seems like no one is riding the elevator at this hour of the night. What I discovered is that _that_ tile," he says, pointing to the ceiling in the back slightly left of the middle, "is actually already loose. It only took the work of a few seconds for me to pop it open and climb up, so I figure it'd be about the same for you."

Isaac moves into the doorway with him and nods as he looks at the tile. The door keeps making clicking noises like it's trying to close, but Scott doesn't care. He'll stand here all night if he has to.

"I thought maybe if I stood here to keep the elevator here and open, you could try it out," Scott suggests.

"Okay," Isaac agrees easily, and within seconds he's lifting himself up and out of sight. "This is _awesome_ ," he says once on top of the elevator, his voice echoing down to Scott.

Scott chuckles to himself, and then laughs even harder when Isaac sticks his head back through the opening in the ceiling. "Have you been up here?"

"Yeah, I rode it up a few floors last night. Wanted to make sure it was safe."

Isaac's face lights up. "Can we do that?"

"Sure," Scott says. "I thought maybe we could try going up a few floors like that, and then if you were comfortable, we could both ride down inside."

"Yeah," Isaac agrees, though he looks a little more hesitant than he did at first.

"You can see how you feel after we go up," Scott amends. "You might wanna sit or something, by the way. It's a little hard to balance up there."

Isaac laughs as he disappears again. After a few seconds, he yells down, "Alright, ready!"

Scott hits the button for the eighth floor and finally lets the door close. It closes slowly, a protocol for being open too long, but then they start moving. Once again Isaac's carefree laugh echoes down, and he shouts, "Dude, come up here!"

Scott steps up on the handrail and heaves himself up as they rush up toward the eighth floor. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Isaac nods. "I'm just gonna ride like this from now on."

Still, when they reach the eighth floor, Scott drops down and Isaac moves to follow him. Scott makes sure to grab the door and hold it open. Isaac eases himself down slowly, hesitantly, like he's going to change his mind any second. Eventually, he settles in the corner and grabs onto the handrail before nodding to Scott.

"You sure?"

"I'm in here by my own choice, and I have an escape plan," Isaac says, mostly to himself. To Scott, he says, "I'm sure."

Scott nods, steps in, and presses the lobby button. The doors close and they start to move, and Scott suddenly wonders if he should say anything. He tries not to stare at Isaac because that would probably make it worse, but then Isaac lets out a nervous laugh and says, "Seemed a lot shorter trip going up, huh?"

When Scott looks, Isaac's got his head tipped back and his eyes screwed shut. He takes a step closer to him and touches his wrist lightly. When Isaac looks down at him warily, Scott says, "Talk to me about something."

"What?"

"Anything."

Isaac sighs and winds up complaining about Aiden and Ethan, which doesn't really surprise Scott. He keeps on talking when they reach the first floor, so Scott hits the button to go back up to 8.

Scott agrees that they need a game plan going forward, especially when it comes to dealing with the twins at school. He'd rather just continue on ignoring them, but he knows Isaac won't go for that. As they continue their conversation, Scott notices a change in Isaac's body language, until he's clearly more focused on their conversation than his location.

After a few runs up and down, Isaac says, "Okay, last one," and reaches out to hit the lobby button himself. His hand shakes a little, but Scott pretends not to notice. "Thanks for doing all this. You really didn't have to."

Scott shrugs. "I wanted to. I hope I didn't push it too far."

"You didn't," Isaac insists. "Seriously, man, no one's ever done anything like this for me. It means a lot."

He steps forward, out of his corner and right into Scott's space. Scott swallows and says, "Oh, well, you're welcome."

Scott feels like maybe something's about to happen, like maybe he's too close, but he can feel Isaac's body heat and he can't quite bring himself to step back. As the elevator dings, Isaac leans in and says, "Hold the door. I'll fix the ceiling."

And then he lifts himself up before Scott can figure out what just happened. He steps into the doorway and tries to figure out whether he's disappointed or relieved. He still doesn't have a firm answer by the time they're back on the bike to go home.

******

FOUR.

The next time they head over to Allison's, Isaac explains why he's not worried about taking the elevator.

"It's not a box that's sealed shut anymore, y'know? I know a way out. I've practiced it."

"Definitely," Scott agrees. "That's awesome, man."

But when the doors slide open, just as their luck would have it, there are other people going up.

Scott takes in Isaac's expression and quickly says, "We can catch the next one."

Anxiety is creeping into Isaac's expression, but he shakes his head and leads the way onto the car. He's noticeably tense, with his fists clenched at his sides, so Scott guides him and says, "excuse me," until they're standing under the loose ceiling tile. Isaac shoots him a tight smile and wraps a hand around Scott's wrist.

"Tell me what you're gonna do about the English paper," Scott says conversationally, moving a little further into Isaac's space.

Isaac's voice breaks slightly as he says, "I--I dunno. I don't know much about any of the books on the list. Do you?"

Scott shakes his head. "We should look 'em up online later. Read the summaries. I don't wanna make the same mistake I made picking _Old Man and the Sea_ last time."

Isaac laughs, only a bit nervously. They stop one floor before Allison's and two people take their time getting off. Isaac still holds a death grip on Scott's wrist. "Maybe we can get copies at the library tomorrow," Isaac suggests.

Scott nods and starts to tell a story about the old lady that used to work there until they're off the elevator and the other two people get off and head down the hall in the opposite direction.

Isaac releases Scott's wrist with an apologetic look, but Scott waves him off as they approach Allison's door. Isaac lets out a relieved laugh as Scott knocks, and then suddenly Isaac's hand is on his shoulder and he's being turned and Isaac is kissing him, firm and intent. Scott goes through various levels of shock within a second and just barely presses back before Isaac pulls away, his thumb sliding across Scott's jawline as he goes.

Isaac smiles a cheeky smile that he immediately turns on Allison when she opens the door, but Scott is still staring at him, shock freezing him in place. When Allison asks if he's okay, he snaps out of it, but only because he doesn't want to explain just yet.

It feels like forever before the heat in his cheeks dies down, but he spends most of the rest of the night trying to keep himself from smiling. He's not very productive, but if Allison or Isaac notice, they don't say anything.

******

FIVE.

It's not that Scott's avoiding Isaac. They've seen each other. Classes, rides to and from school, etc. But Scott has somehow managed to fill the conversation with random thoughts on everything including the weather and the state of his shoes in order to hopefully stave off any talk of what happened last night.

It's not that he didn't like it. It's that he did. He really did, and he's spent a long time pointedly _not_ thinking about liking Isaac's hypothetical kisses, especially since he moved into Scott's house.

Now, though, the kisses are no longer hypothetical, and Scott's visiting his mom, because he is a good son, and because he needs to be somewhere not home while he reworks his worldview.

His mom eyes him like she knows he's up to something, but she lets him sit behind the reception desk and play with the post-it notes, provided he doesn't touch anything else. (He confirms that the paper clips are also okay, because he needs them to make complex origami things.)

He's got a crane and a penguin and half of a giraffe made before long, but his mind is replaying that moment over and over. Was it just a knee-jerk reaction on Isaac's part? He hadn't tried to take it back or anything, but he also hadn't tried to bring it up either. Scott ponders this while he picks up his phone to check how to make the origami giraffe, but before he can find what he's looking for, he gets sidetracked looking up stuff on claustrophobia. He reads a few articles and saves some for later, wondering if they might be able to help Isaac.

Once he realizes he's just spent 15 minutes researching things for Isaac, he has to admit to himself that yes, his crush on Isaac is very real. He'd very much like to kiss him again, if Isaac wants him to, and maybe even more than that.

It's while he's mulling over that possibility that Isaac shows up, looking unforgivably gorgeous in that stupid leather jacket and smiling when he sees Scott behind the desk. Scott drops his phone with a loud clatter.

"Hey, uh, what are you doing here?"

Isaac slides his hands into his pockets and leans his hip against the desk. "Came to ask if I should pick up food for tonight. Didn't know you'd be here. I thought maybe you were avoiding me."

Scott takes in his smirk and the lines of his shoulders and thinks that _this_ was why he didn't allow himself to think about this type of thing. He can't focus. "We saw each other all day, man. If I was avoiding you, I'd be doing a sucky job of it."

"I didn't say you were great at it," Isaac quips.

"Shut up," Scott says with a laugh, pulling off a new post-it note to leave a note for his mom. _Heading home, will pick up food for dinner. See you soon!_

He leaves the crane and the penguin for her too, and then stands to lead the way back toward the elevators. "Hey, so I was reading this article about claustrophobia."

Scott watches carefully to make sure he isn't out of line, but Isaac doesn't seem to tense up. Instead, he turns slightly toward Scott and raises his eyebrows. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, it kinda said if you had positive associations with being in a closed space, then maybe those could eventually replace the negative ones."

"Hmm," Isaac says, contemplative, as they near the elevator. He turns toward Scott fully and takes a half-step toward him. "What kinda 'positive associations'?"

Scott makes a big deal of leaning over to press the down button for the elevator, straightening another step closer to Isaac. With his blood thrumming in his ears, he reaches out to just barely touch Isaac's waist under his jacket, saying, "Well, maybe like some sort of rewards program."

"I'm listening," Isaac says, mirroring Scott's movement. His hand feels warm where it skims across Scott's shirt.

And as much fun as Scott's having with the teasing, he suddenly decides he can't take it anymore, pushing up and in to capture Isaac's mouth with his own.

Isaac gasps just before their mouths collide, and then his hand flattens against Scott's side, possessive, as he kisses back hungrily.

The elevator dings, and with more than a little reluctance, Scott pulls away. "Ride down by yourself," he whispers, "and I'll meet you downstairs to pick up where we left off."

Isaac releases a shaky breath and nods just as the doors slide open. "Oh god, there's like 50 people," he murmurs, and Scott immediately feels guilty.

"You don't have to," he quickly says, reaching out even as Isaac takes a step forward.

"I want to," Isaac says as he squeezes into the only available space left in the elevator. His intent look makes Scott feel hot all over.

"Are you sure?" Scott says quietly, holding the door open and ignoring the impatient grunts and glares from the others on the elevator.

"See you downstairs," Isaac says pointedly, wrapping his hand around the handrail on the side.

Scott steps back and lets the doors close. His heart hammers for a second, and he curses himself. Isaac's never going to forgive him if he freaks out on the way down.

But it'll be even worse if Scott isn't there when he gets down, so Scott takes off down the stairs at top speed. It's an agonizing wait at the bottom, and Scott realizes that even with only five floors, with that many people, they probably made several stops. Which, he notes with some relief, would give Isaac a chance to get off if he needed to.

The other two stupid elevators get there before Isaac's, and Scott has the horrifying thought of _what if they got stuck?!_ when the ding indicates the doors are about to open.

Isaac's sweating when the doors open, and the metal of the handrail has been warped, but his face lights up like the fourth of July when he sees Scott there.

"That was the stupidest idea I've ever had," Scott says against Isaac's shoulder as he's crushed into a hug. "I'm never going to do that to you again."

"Are you kidding?" Isaac says with a giddy laugh. "I loved it."

"You did?"

"Every time I started to get caught up in my head I just thought about doing this," he says, and then tilts Scott's face up and kisses him.

Scott pulls at Isaac's jacket and breathes, " _yes_ ," against his lips, and like he was waiting for permission, Isaac hauls himself closer and deepens the kiss.

Scott forgets where they are until some old lady clears her throat obnoxiously as she passes by. Sheepishly, he pulls back and says, "Maybe we should clear out."

"Right, uh. Food. We said food, right?"

Scott swallows. "There's food at home?"

Isaac smiles.

******

& ONE.

"So explain to me why we're at Allison's," Scott says, not for the first time since they left. It's been a few days since they decided to give this a shot, and Scott kinda thought their first Friday night together could be a little more exciting.

"Because you know how to get into the building late at night," Isaac answers, leading them to the door.

Scott obediently gets them inside, but he points out, "That's not an explanation."

"I wanna try something," Isaac says, leaving it at that. He leads the way onto the elevator and hits a floor button, seemingly at random.

"That's not Allison's floor."

"We're not going to see Allison," Isaac says, waiting until the elevator starts to move before hitting the emergency stop button with some force.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Scott says urgently as the elevator jolts to a stop.

Isaac grins widely as he pulls at Scott's lapels and backs himself up against the wall. "Positive associations."

He pulls Scott toward him and initiates the first kiss. It takes Scott a few more seconds than usual to get on board, because he was not expecting _this_ , but it doesn't take long for him to brace a hand on the wall next to Isaac's head and lean into the kiss.

"You are absolutely crazy," Scott tells Isaac as he shifts to press kisses along his jaw and down his neck, and Isaac laughs in his ear, unrepentant.

When the collar of Isaac's jacket gets in his way, he pushes it off, and Isaac urges him to follow suit. Isaac's hands slip under Scott's shirt and slide along his back, pulling him in closer as his mouth finds its way back to Isaac's.

"What are we doing?" Isaac gasps between kisses, as if this wasn't his idea.

"Something we can't do at home," Scott answers easily, and presses his hips forward to find a pleasant friction.

Isaac laughs roughly, and his hands move lower on Scott's back until they're slipping toward his waistband and pulling at him again. "Yeah, uh, as long as we're clear."

Scott pulls back enough to let Isaac see the intent look in his eyes. "We should be. If you don't want this--"

"Wow, no, I _definitely_ want this," Isaac interrupts, backing up his statement by pushing his hands on past Scott's waistband to rest on his ass. "I just kinda figured -- wow, keep doing that -- best case, I thought you'd let me make out with you for a few minutes."

"You've gotta be more optimistic," Scott says as he pulls Isaac's shirt off over his head.

"I prefer -- heh, pleasantly surprised," Isaac says, gasping and squirming as Scott kisses his way down from his throat and sucks on a nipple.

He continues his trajectory down until he reaches Isaac's waistband, shifting to get comfortable on his knees as he looks up at Isaac. "You doing okay?" he feels the need to ask as he works open the button on Isaac's jeans.

Isaac laughs. "I'm a little overwhelmed right now, to be honest, but definitely _definitely_ not in a bad way."

He rubs his hand against the bulge in Isaac's jeans and feels his own cock jump at the way Isaac groans and tilts his head back against the elevator wall. "Good. But if it starts to be too much, seriously. Just tell me to stop."

Isaac nods, and Scott feels satisfied enough to focus back on the task at hand, so to speak. He pulls Isaac's cock out through the slit of his boxers and works it in his hand at first, taking in every gasp and moan that Isaac makes. When he works up the nerve to slide his lips down around the head, swirling his tongue tentatively, it pulls a moan from Isaac that has him straining almost painfully against his own zipper.

He gradually sinks down on Isaac's cock before working up a rhythm, alternately using his hand to twist and pull in just the right ways to get a reaction from Isaac.

As Isaac gets more worked up, his hands move off the handrails and into Scott's hair, and his moans start to shape into actual sentences. "God, Scott," he says, "You have no idea. I've been thinking about this since. God. Forever."

Scott's own need to touch himself is growing more urgent, but he can feel Isaac tensing, so he focuses all his energy on getting him off, sucking and licking until Isaac is cursing and muttering a warning before he comes. Scott pulls off immediately, using his right hand to work Isaac through it while his left hand drifts down to rub against his nearly aching cock.

"Oh fuck," Isaac whimpers and paws at Scott's shoulders. "Please get up here."

Scott does, straightening a little stiffly until Isaac cups his face with both hands and licks into his mouth, chasing his own taste on Scott's tongue.

"Wanna return the favor," Isaac murmurs, his hands moving quickly to Scott's zipper. It's a relief when his cock springs free of his jeans, but it's a white-hot sort of pleasure that jolts through him when Isaac immediately drops to his knees and sinks down on Scott's cock.

He certainly beats Scott out for enthusiasm, licking and sucking at Scott's cock like he's claiming it. Scott doesn't think he's likely to last long, and he bites out a sentence resembling that, but Isaac doesn't seem to care either way.

He doesn't have the benefit of a wall behind him like Isaac did, so he leans his weight onto his hands against the elevator wall, fighting the urge to snap his hips into Isaac's mouth. Isaac works Scott's cock in his hand with quick strokes until Scott can feel himself on the edge of orgasm, and then he takes him into his mouth again just as he starts to come.

" _Fuck_ , Isaac," Scott grits out, feeling like his orgasm lasts forever. He snaps back to reality eventually, but he still feels a little lightheaded. He lets himself slide down onto the floor to kiss Isaac senseless, tasting himself on Isaac's tongue but not finding it as weird as he might've thought.

"Wow," Isaac says, panting against his mouth.

"Yeah," Scott agrees. "I guess… we should probably let others use the elevator again soon. Y'know, just in case."

"Two more minutes," Isaac says with a smile, pulling Scott in for another kiss.

"Hang on," Scott says three to four minutes later, because nobody's perfect. "I thought there was like, an operator who was supposed to call if the emergency stop was pressed in an elevator."

"Oh, uh, well," Isaac says, pulling his shirt back on. "I might've come by and tested it last night. No operator."

"I knew I heard you leave!" Scott says. He'd been slightly worried at the time, but had rationalized that Isaac would tell him eventually. He's pretty glad now that he let that one go.

Isaac hits the emergency button again and, after a few pulse-quickening seconds, the elevator jumps back to life. "Yeah, I didn't want to hide it, I just wanted to make sure I could handle this before I tried anything stupid."

"I wouldn't call this stupid," Scott says with a laugh.

"It would've been if I'd had a panic attack halfway through," Isaac points out.

Scott shakes his head and hits the button to send them back down to the lobby. "Not stupid. We just would've had to improvise."

Isaac raises his eyebrows, looking intrigued. "Sex on top of the elevator?"

Scott laughs. "Don't get any ideas."

Isaac moves back into his space to kiss him sweetly until the soft ding of the elevator lets them know they can get off. Scott can't speak for Isaac, but he's personally growing pretty fond of elevators.

THE END


End file.
